- Damar re-takes, and passes, the test to become a Wizard of the Second Circle.

- Piper and E'dual purchase the Cafe du Baloth and the Hanged Man Tavern with the intention to re-open them.

- Kiodo visits Kayleon's family, and pay for her funeral

- The party decides to hire a ship and sail up to the Caverns of Ulthik to retrieve the shell of the flail snail. They do so without incident.

June 10th:

The party decides to investigate the tomb of Neheb, a minotaur hero, to find out more information about the Orb of Illusions. On the way to the tomb, they meet a minotaur trader named Hurloon. He tells them of the nearby Kragma Village where more of his people make their homes. He explains of troubles that the village is having with the eldrazi parasites. The party offers to help, and sets off towards the village.

Arriving in the village, the party eventually speaks with the chief, Anava. He grants the party permission to explore the tomb of Neheb.

At the tomb, the party overcomes several tricks and traps. Mardak unlocks the main temple doors, which leads in a room with some strange markings on the ground. Deducing what they mean, the party avoids a battle with a large group of shadows by making sure no light invades their lair.

After that, the party is given the choice of testing their mental mettle, or their might. They choose to use their mental prowess, and answer a riddle to avoid fighting some minotaur skeletons.

In the next room, the party encounters the shadowy form of Neheb, with a key floating in his heart, in the middle of a room covered in minotaur paintings. They try to retrieve the key, only to have him turn more substantial and attack them. He returns back to his shadowy form after just a few seconds. After some more trial and error, Piper discovers a painting with a key on it. He touches this painted key, and the party is able to retrieve the real key.

The party uses the key to enter Neheb's library. They spend several hours learning many things about the Orb of Illusions, and the Eldrazi. The party then returns to Kragma village to regroup. They return to the village at 5 pm.

8 am to 3 pm: The party awakens and travels towards Shadowridge Cave. Once there, they deliver the Fruit of the Stone Tree to Amedi. She consumes the fruit and stops being a medusa. She thanks the party for their efforts and they continue on towards Seagate.

4 pm: As they reach the Sunset Docks, they see a plume of smoke rising from the ships. Investigating this, they see three merrow attacking the ships, and a group of common people struggling to hold them off. The party attacks the merrow, and they assisted by a new ally: the merfolk caster Ed'ual. During the conflict, a member of the North Hada Freemen sees the party, and runs back to Seagate to tell Varat. Eventually, the merrow are defeated and the burning ships are put on. The party waits to see if the Freemen return, but they do not, so the party heads into Seagate proper.

5 pm: In the Dusk Market district, there is more smoke and fire. The party traces that to the Cafe du Baloth, which has been assaulted by the Freemen. The cafe is burned, and the body of the barmaid, Kayleon, is staked out with a simple note: "This ends today." The Seagate guard approaches the party, and lets them know that while they cannot directly attack the Freemen, they will support the party in any way that they can.

6 pm: The party rests for a short time.

7 pm: Ed'ual, who was already aware of the party and their doings, knows of a hidden cove that leads to the Hanged Man tavern. With the Seagate guard surrounding the tavern, the party plans to attack the cove, catching the Freemen between a rock and a hard place. After some time preparing, the party storms the cove and attacks the surprised Freemen. While they quickly rout the guards and assorted folk in the cove, the alarm is sounded, and more Freemen come rushing down.

In this group of Freemen is Varat, and Thakar, his barbarian enforcer. A pitched battle takes place in the narrow tunnels, with Varat falling, and then Thakar. With the help of the Seagate Guard, the party puts a permanent end to the North Hada Freemen.

2 pm – The party continues to explore the caves. They encounter a few empty rooms, and then Kiodo scouts ahead and finds the Stone Tree, guarded by a wood woad who must be Ulthik himself. Kiodo begins to battle him, but the rest of the party has trouble reaching the Tree. (Including Damar running into some brown mold.) After a long battle involving using the Fruit of the Stone Tree as a football, as well as burning oil. Ulthik is subdued. The party takes his treasure and the Fruit and leaves the cave.

3 pm – The party exits the cave to see that their ship is on fire. Investigating more closely, they find that Captain Setmanes and his crew have been killed, but their deaths have been made to look like an animal attack. While the party tries to put together what happened, they are attacked by a hidden assassin! An absolutely epic fight ensues. In the battle, Sheon is killed by a poisoned crossbow.

The assassin is eventually subdued and questioned. He reveals his name to be Ernach. He was hired by Varat to kill the party for 1000 gold. Having no more use for him, the party extracts a small measure of vengeance for Sheon by slaying the assassin. The party then rests overnight, planning their next move.

6 pm – The party returns to Seagate and meets up with Damar. He did not pass his test to become a Wizard of the Second Rank. They relate their misadventures to him, and the party stays in the Dusk Market Overnight

June 7th

8 am to 11 am – The party begins to make preparations to explore the cavern of Ulthik. Kiodo meets with Dardelio and is cured of the death dog disease. The party decides to hire a boat instead of walking to the Cavern. They encounter the Kor Captain Setmanes, who agrees to take them up the coast.. They depart at 11 am.

11 am to 1 pm – The party travels on Captain Setmanes boat. Although they are worried about it's seaworthiness, they arrive without problems.

1 pm – The party begins exploring the Cavern of Ulthik.

- They battle two gargoyles outside of the front door, fighting in and around the crumbling pilllars.

- Inside the Cavern, Piper runs afoul of some green slime.

- In a bedroom/museum, the party finds some healing potions and scrolls.

- They find a large, locked door leading deeper into the cavern, guarded by suits of animated armor. They defeat the armor, but they are unable to unlock the door.

- They discover the magical fountain in the Cavern, which is guarded by a water weird. They defeat it and drink from the fountain, feeling greatly rejuvenated.

- Continuing on, the temple portion of the Cavern gives way to actual caves. The party encounters and overcomes a flail snail, leaving it's extremely valuable shell to retrieve later.

3 pm to 4:30 pm – The party (Damar, Kiodo & Mardak) arrive at the Cafe du Baloth with the Yuan-ti woman still unconscious. They meet with with Sheon and Piper, both of whom were attacked by Freemen during the night, and spent the morning recovering. Damar hurries off to take the test to become a Wizard of the Second Rank at the Lighthouse. Meanwhile, the unconscious woman draws a lot of attention, so the party takes her to the ruined house on Octopus Beach.

The Yuan-ti woman begins to wake up at this time, and it is revealed that her name is Seshira. She is relatively non-plussed about being held captive, bargaining with the party to gain her freedom. She reveals that she is a servant of Ulamog, who was given a quest to explore five locations on the western beaches of Tazeem to find information about the Orb of Illusions. The places she mentions are:

Seshira reveals that there is another band of Ulamog Cultists that are in the Oran Rief Forest, looking for three beacons. When activated, each beacon would increase Ulamog's power, and help him escape his prison. She does not know what the group consists of, or how their plan is going. When the party mentions the prophecy found in Stonehollow Fort, she says that Ulamog believes the Orb is still extant.

One of the things that Seshira says strikes Seshira as false, though. She mentioned speaking to Ulamog in her mind. As far as Kiodo has studied, that's not a power that Ulamog has. After revealing all of this information Seshira asks to go free. Sheon kills her instead. The party leaves her body at the ruined house and begins to head to the western beaches, looking for the statue-filled cavern, Shadowridge Cave.

5 pm – The party encounters a crazed minotaur on the beach, who attacks them. After killing it, they discover that there was some sort of parasitic eldrazi attached to the back of it's neck. Sheon takes the corpse of the parasite.

6 pm – The party reaches Shadowridge Cave. After a short exploration, they encounter two giant poisonous snakes. One of the snakes is killed, and the other is driven off by Piper. The party is pretty beat up by this time, so they retreat a short way down the beach to rest.

6:30 pm to 12 am – The party takes a long rest.

June 6th

8 am – The party re-enters Shadowridge Cave. Exploring it further, they find the fully furnished bedroom/living quarters of a female. After investigating that, they enter a meditation chamber where the identity of the woman is revealed. She is a medusa! The party struggles valiantly against her, with Kiodo falling unconscious from her poisonous hair, and Sheonbeing turned to stone. Piper and Mardak struggle on, causing her to become bloodied, but they eventually fall as well. It's certain death for the party….

5 pm – The party wakes up to find themselves tied up in a different room of the cave. Sheon is back to normal as well, thanks to a scroll that lies at his feet. The medusa woman, Amedi, demands to know what they are doing in her cave. They explain that they were looking for information about the Orb of Illusions. She sneers and says that the Orb of Illusions was destroyed long ago. Amedi is upset about being hurt and having to use up her resources to heal these hostile interlopers, but she says she will release the party if they perform a quest for her.

In the Caverns of Ulthik to the north and west, there is a tree of stone. On that tree, a black fruit grows. The story is told that the fruit can cure a medusa of it's curse, and turn her back into a human. Amedi will let the party go if they agree to retrieve it and bring it back to her. If not, she will hunt them down and kill them. Having no choice, the party agrees to do this.

The party leaves Amedi's cave with most of them still greatly injured. They plan to return to Sea Gate to rest and reunite with Damar.

8 am – The party meets at the Cafe du Baloth. Sheon and Piper are both missing. They chat with Kayleon, and are approached by a man in dark robes. The party thinks that he is one of the potential hirelings they are looking to employ, but he reveals himself as Calmor, one of the Mul Daya Band elves that the party had saved from the Cult of Ulamog. He, and the rest of the Mul Daya Band survivors attack the party, but they are quickly wiped out. After the battle, the party takes a short rest.

9 am – The party receives word from a messenger that an earthquake on the western coast has opened up an ancient fort. They rush to get to the fort before any other inhabitants of Sea Gate can.

Further exploration reveals a mosaic that shows the death of anyone that looks at it. The phrase "Don't fall asleep" in Goblin is scrawled below it. The party suspects that they have been hexed with the Curse of the Mosaic and that sleeping will cause them to die! (They aren't though.)

The party eventually finds a room with a woman who claims to have been held prisoner by the Yuan-ti for many years. However, she is lying as she is a Yuan-ti herself. Kiodo disables her and takes her prisoner as the party returns to Sea Gate.

9 am – In the aftermath of the battle, the party secures the gates of the fort and speaks to the unnamed representative of the myconids. The party agrees that they myconids can stay in the caves under the fort, but they are free to leave at any time they want. The party offers to escort the myconids home, but they do not know where they are, or how to get home. They also agree that the myconids can take the foodstuffs made of their people, as well as the elven corpses to use as nourishment.

The myconids can supply the party with 4 "spore bombs" per week, of the hallucinogenic or pacifying variety. They can also provide simple manual labor around the fort. The myconid leader agrees to animate some of the elven corpses as "spore servants."

9:30 am to 6 pm – The party explores the fort, taking stock of the resources available there, as well as the goods it contains. Most of the party rests, but Piper keeps watch. He exits the fort to try to find Astira's tracks from the battle of the previous day, but finds nothing.

6 pm – Piper sees a small winged being approaching the fort across the no man's land. It appears to be waving a white flag. The creature turns out to be an imp by the name of Windglum, who works for Astira. He apologizes on behalf of his mistress for the previous misunderstandings and says that she wishes to meet with the party. Piper agrees, and the meeting is set for the next day at 10 am.

6:30 pm to 12 am – The party rests

June 4th: Early Summer

10 am – The party meets with Astira. She apologizes for attacking them and stealing the mushroom powder. She (truthfully) claims that she was upset with how the myconids were being treated, and assumed the party was involved in enslaving them and harvesting them. She was less apologetic for them being involved in the twig blight attack of June 2nd, but apologizes none the less.

Astira verifies with the party that the myconids are safe, and free to leave whenever they would like. She doesn't know where the myconids are from either, and it's not in the area. She will try to research that using divination if she can.

Astira wants to know how the fort will be appointed. She is fine with the party taking it over, as long as they are able to keep it secure. Astira reveals that there is a large group of Cultists of Ulamog who make their home in the forest. They make their home in a ruin with a strange glowing hedron, which is a match of the one the PCs rescued the Mul Daya Elves from previously. Using his notes, Kiodo realizes that there are three of these hedrons in the area, and the Cult must be searching for the third one.

Astira explains that she has not attacked this branch of the Cult of Ulamog as she wasn't ready for a direct assault. She alludes to providing either Windglum or Culann to support the PCs if they attack the Cult. Astira also purchases most of the remaining mushroom powder from the party. They get the impression that she wants to arrange a deal with the myconids to get more at some point in the future. Astira gives Damar a couple of spells, both involving elemental powers.

11 am – The party begins to scout the forest for signs of the Cult of Ulamog. They find the tracks of two armored vampires and two dog-like creatures. They follow the tracks and come across one the Knights of Ulamog fighting a baloth. The knight is accompanied by two Death Dogs. The dogs quickly finish off the baloth and the battle is joined in earnest. The party wins the fight, with Kiodo tripping the knight and Damar using a flaming sphere to wreak havoc.

After the battle, they continue to follow the tracks of the other knight, who split off from his companion not far from the battle. The party is able to follow his tracks to (what they assume) is the headquarters of the Cult of [[Ulamog.]] It's a stone fort built into part of the reef forest. Piper, Kiodo and Mardak do some scouting, and see the guardians: Three more Knights of Ulamog, each accompanied by a Worg. Although Kiodo is strongly tempted to explore the ruin, the party decides that discretion is the better part of valor and they begin heading back to Sea Gate.

8 pm – The trip through the Oran Rief Forest is long, but uneventful. Upon reaching Sea Gate, Mardak is warned by one of the common people that the Mul Daya Band elves and Freemen of North Hada are extremely angry at the party, and have been watching the gates to see when they arrive. The commoner also warns the party to stay away from the Sunrise Docks. The party, who plans to recruit hirelings for the Fort, puts out word (and signs) that they will be looking for help at the Cafe du Baloth tomorrow morning. After disseminating this info, the party splits up to rest.

Damar stays in the Dawn Market District, using his magic to disguise himself. Piper plays for room and board at the same inn. Kiodo seeks his rest in a modest inn of the Dusk Market. Mardak meets up with Velakar in the Dusk Market as well, and avails himself of that hospitality. Sheon once again sleeps in the alleys of Sea Gate, this time in Lighthouse square.

Oran Reif Forest

May 31st: Early Summer

Location: Sea Gate & Oran Rief Forest, Continent of Tazeem

10 am to 12 pm

The party, minus Damar, sets out for the Oran Rief forest. It takes them about two hours to get to the edge of the forest. Piper finds a blazed trail that the Freemen had left while they were fleeing, and the party is easily able to follow it. However, they feel a strange energy in the forest that they can't quite put their finger on.

12 pm to 4 pm

The party travels through the forest until they reach a large 100 foot tall cliff. There are the remnants of a rope hanging 25 feet down it. Piper and Kiodo begin to scale the cliff, with Kiodo making excellent time because of his magical gloves. As Kiodo nears the top, three drakes emerge from the forest and attack the party. A pitched battle ensues, with Sheon and Mardak being dive-bombed on the ground, Piper being attacked while clinging to the side of the cliff, and Kiodo fighting atop the cliff. Eventually, the party wins out. As Piper nears the top of the cliff, he loses his grip and almost plummets to his death.

4 pm to 4:30 pm

The entire party reaches the top of the cliff and regroups after the battle. They decide to continue on.

4:30 pm to 8:30 pm

The party reaches a strangely quiet portion of the forest; there are no animal or bird noises. They soon find the source of the danger: a giant spider! After defeating it, the party finds a number of bodies suspended in webs. It looks like there were once more giant spiders here, but they have left for some reason. The party spends an hour cutting down and searching the bodies. They acquire some gems and potions from them.

8:30 pm

The party decides to rest for the remainder of the day.

June 1st

8 am to 10 am

The party sets out for the day, fully rested.

10 am

While continuing deeper into the forest, the party discovers another set of tracks that split off from the path they are following. Piper identifies these as belonging to a group of 7 seven vampires that passed this way about a week and a half ago. After some heated debate, they continue to follow the path of the Freemen.

11 am

The party arrives at the clearing with the ruined caravan. The wagons are there, but they have been trashed and pierced with many needles. Three needle blights are the cause of the destruction. The party destroys the needle blights, again noting that it looks like there were more of the creatures at one point, but several others have left.

Inspecting a broken crate, Sheon finds a paper-wrapped package tucked in with the rest of the textiles. The package contains mushroom powder, a powerful hallucinogenic drug. Sheon re-wraps the package, and the party begins loading up the crates. There are 24 crates total.

After they have loaded several crates, a beautiful woman accompanied by a hell-hound appears at the edge of the clearing. Proclaiming her name to be Astira, she threatens the party, claiming the crates by right of force. The party parleys with her for a while, and she reveals that she just wants the packages of mushroom powder, not the textiles. Sheon is glad to hand them over, but the rest of the party refuses. The woman sics her hell-hound on the party, who bounds across the clearing and drops Mardak and Sheon with a single breath of fire.

The party stabilizes them and acquiesces to Astira's request. Once the mushroom powder has been turned over, Astira and her hell-hound leave. The party gathers up the rest of the crates and begins to head back to Sea Gate. Sheon seals the crates so it looks like nothing has happened to them. On the way back, Piper splits from the party to explore the temple.

At the temple, Piper discovers a number of things. There are a number of humanoid corpses in ritual circles. The temple is dominated by a huge statue of a strange, multi-armed creature with no face. There is also a black sword and black plate mail of vampire make laying in front of the statue. Piper takes those, and rushes to catch up with the rest of the party. The entire party heads back to the temple to explore further. Mardark discovers a hidden area behind the statue, but the entire party is not strong enough to move it.

The party travels the 8 hours back to Sea Gate, arriving at 1 am. They rest for the night, preparing for their meeting with Varat to bring him the bad news about the lost mushroom powder.

In the meantime….

After having spent a number of years learning the basics of magic and alchemy at the Lighthouse, as well as honing his skills outside with his adventuring companions, Damar has finally been selected to take the test to become a Wizard of the first rank. While the test itself is simple, it takes place over a grueling 24 period, designed to test his intellect and focus to their utmost. Damar is asked to create and maintain an illusion with both visible AND audible components, then has to sustain it for 2 hours while being distracted by the test proctors. He also has to prepare two spell scrolls from scratch.

After the intense test, Damar emerged from the testing chamber to face the scrutiny of the arch wizards. An even more intense two hours passed while the arch wizards critiqued and commented on Damar's work, forcing him to defend the choices that he made during the test. Due to Damar's "outside training" (adventuring) and the fact that he had previously left the Lighthouse, there was opposition from some of the arch wizards. However, to his great pleasure, it was determined that the young wizard would be allowed to learn more advanced spells at the Lighthouse.

Halimar Beach: Octopus Cave

May 28th: Early Summer

Location: Seagate, Continent of Tazeem

The party reconvenes and heads to the Arcane College to seek out Morune He is quite friendly, and glad to speak with the party. Morune's specialty is underwater exploration, and he asks the party of the right of first refusal on any treasures they find underwater. The party agrees, and the Waterbreathing spells is cast on each member.

The party makes their way to the Western Beaches and enters the water. After swimming out for several minutes, they find the end of the shelf of rock and being diving deeper. As they sight the octopus cave, they are attacked by two sahuagin They are soundly defeated and Piper scouts the entrance to the cave. Inside, there's a giant octopus and several of it's smaller children, along with some marble statues. Piper uses his knowledge of animals to calm the octopi and retrieve the statues. He exits the cave without any hassle.

As the party is deciding what to do next, two more sahuagin attack them. They are defeated as well. With some injuries, the party returns to shore to rest. Then, taking advantage of the time remaining on the Waterbreathing spell, they enter the Halimar sea once again.

Piper and Damar suspect that there must be a shipwreck nearby and begin searching for it, while the rest of the party follows. Several hours of exploration reveals nothing interesting. Piper and Sheon are quite fatigued by the ocean, but press on. Eventually, Kiodo finds a single crate from a North Hada merchant with a small amount of coin.

At this point, the ocean is becoming a serious danger for Piper and Sheon. They eventually make it back to shore, but not before they are exhausted and near death's door. The party limps back to Seagate. They meet with Morune, who offers then quite a bit of extra money for the statues from the octopus lair, as well as necklaces taken off of the sahuagin A bond is forged between Morune and the party, ensuring they will help each other in the future. The party then rests for several days, and finds themselves becoming stronger.

As they are having breakfast, they are approached by a messenger sent by Varat He requests the party's presence at the Hanged Man Tavern in the Sunrise Docks. The party arrives there and finds that it is a safe-house for the Freemen. Varat wines and dines the party before giving them his request. The Freemen have lost a caravan of goods in the Oran Rief forest. He would like the party to retrieve it.

Varat mentions that the caravan was carrying textiles (to avoid tariffs) , but the party suspects that there is something he's not telling them. Varat mentions that the caravan was attacked by small, plant-like creatures in the forest, but the Oran Rief is also home to dangers like spiders, wild-cats, etc. The party agrees to retrieve the textiles, and Varat loans them a magical Bag of Holding to use to bring the crates back.

As the party leaves the Hanged Man, Damar receives a message from the Arcane College. They are holding a test for entry into the College. Damar, eager to officially join that august body, excuses himself from the party to hurry to the College.

Corum's Vault

May 27th: Early Summer

Location: Seagate, Continent of Tazeem

The party awakens from their rest in the tunnels under Seagate. They explore down to the 3rd sublevel, and discover a strange pod. Investigating it more closely, they come to the conclusion that the strange spawn creatures must have hatched from it. They also discover several clear blue hedrons that are somehow tied to the spawn.

As the party explores more of the 3rd sublevel, they encounter additional ladders heading down, but also back up as well. After some investigation, they head down to the 4th sublevel and encounter a locked hatch. In the progress of opening it, they set off another primitive bell trap several times. Eventually, Mardark gets the hatch open and the party descends, attempting to hide as best they can. They discover a small camp with a fire-pit, a bedroll and many crates and barrels.

Watching over the camp is Varat, the rough man from the beach. He is in a much better mood, and welcomes the PCs to this rough hospitality. (Ale and pickles! Yum!) Talking with Varat, the party discovers that he represents the Freemen of North Hada, a band of smugglers operating across Tazeem. They use this part of the tunnels to bring their contraband into Seagate. The party realizes that Varat is being so nice because he realizes that they can turn him in to the authorities. However, both parties seem amenable to each other, and a alliance is forged.

Varat is unable to provide any information about the spawn and the rest of the tunnel system, but he bids his new friends well as they continue their explorations.

The party backtracks and heads to another section of the 4th sublevel. There, they find another strange pod, this time with spawn eating off of it. The spawn are dispatched, and the party continues on its way. They reach the antechamber to Corum's vault and encounter another group of spawn. After killing them, they realize that the vault is most assuredly compromised!

After investigating the strange runes and a the gong in the antechamber, they head towards the chamber itself. More spawn attack, including one that looks different from the others. This one levitates by some unseen force! The party, after a pitched battle, destroys the spawn. Inside the chamber, they find the wreckage of a larger hedron, similar in shape (but not in size) to the hedrons that float above Tazeem. They find several magical items in the chamber as well: a shield that is rusty, yet indestructible, a short sword made of coral, and gloves made of leaves and vines that will assist with climbing and swimming.

The party returns to Dardelio, letting him know that Corum's vault has been opened. Sheon gives him the corpse of one the spawn as well. Dardelio panics, and scurries off to report this to his superiors. He lets the PCs know that his colleague Morune, a human wizard of the 6th rank, will be available to perform the ritual of Waterbreathing when they are ready.

The party heads back into Seagate proper. There, they rest up, familiarize themselves with the magic items they acquire, and sell some of the treasure they have found. Then, they go their separate ways. Damar, Kiodo and Mardak all put themselves up in inn rooms. Piper plays the night away at a tavern, earning his keep. And Sheon stalks the alleyways of Seagate once again.

Seagate Tunnels

May 26th: Early Summer

Location: Seagate, Continent of Tazeem

The party reconvened at the Cafe du Baloth for breakfast. They agreed to sell the treasure they had taken from the crate, and to bring Corum's ashes to the Arcane College at the Lightouse. They met with Damar's colleague Dardelio. Dardelio, a merfolk priest, explained to the party that Corum was a human hero who had discovered a group of Cosi's Tricksters attempting to infiltrate a sealed vault in the tunnels under Seagate. This happened around 100 years ago, and no one had visited the vault since.

Damar's concerns that their might be Eldrazi in the vault were laughed off by Dardelio. Piper asked about acquiring the ability to breathe underwater, so he could locate the octopus lair, which he believes is full of treasure. Dardelio said that he knew another colleague who could help the party with that, but he would need a favor in return. The party was tasked with entering the tunnels under Seagate and making sure that Corum's vault was secure. In return, Dardelio's colleague will cast the spell of Waterbreathing on each of them, for free.

The party set off down the tunnels, searching for Corum's vault on the 5th sublevel. They discovered no signs of life, but a primitive bell trap had been set-up. It was quickly found and disarmed by Mardak. Venturing further down to the 3rd sublevel, the party encountered some strange creatures that seemed to be not of this earth. Another battle ensued, with the party eventually emerging victorious. Mardak and Piper had fallen unconscious, so the party ventured back up a level and made a rough camp. Sheon took one of the bodies of the creatures for studying.

Halimar Beach

The party is enjoying lunch at the Cafe du Baloth in the Dusk Market district of Sea Gate. Their companionable banter is interrupted when they notice several agitated fisherman walking by. Greeting the group, the party learns that two of their fellow fisherman went to a dangerous fishing spot two days prior and haven't returned. Velakar, the spokesman for the fisherman, offers the party 10 gold pieces each if they can find out what happened to their friends. The party sets off.

It takes them about an hour to get to the beach, which is north of Sea Gate on the western beaches of the Halimar Inland Sea. The party discovers a huge pile of driftwood. Sheon sets it alight, and several large rats scurry from it and attack the party. The party fends them off, and them notices a wooden crate at the bottom of the driftwood. Saving it from the fire, they notice that it's from a company in the rough-and-tumble settlement of North Hada.

Inside the crate, they found some treasure, as well as container full of the ashes of the human hero Corum. The party resolved to take this to the Arcane College at the Lighthouse. During this time, Kiodo wandered off to explore a ruined house nearby. Inside the house, he met a gruff man named Varat. Varat claimed that he was separated from this companions, and had arrived at the beach last night. When the rest of the party arrived and questioned him about the missing fisherman, he began to get quite agitated. Piper tried to calm him down, but Sheon took offense and attacked Varat with magic.

Varat began to attack Sheon. Most of the party began to back off from the confrontation, but Kiodo got a few hits in on Varat, and Damar used an illusionary wall to try to separate the combatants. Eventually Varat was calmed, but not before wounding Sheon into unconsciousness. Fortunately, Sheon's wounds weren't quite as bad as they seemed and he quickly awakened.

The party investigated a nearby fire-pit, and discovered signs of the fisherman. They followed the signs to two small fishing tents down by the beach. The party noticed sets of octopus tracks just before they were attacked by the giant beasts. During the battle, Mardak and Kiodo were knocked unconscious. The party took shelter in the small tents at they waited for their friends to awaken. Piper skinned the octopi, recovering two ink sacs, as well as evidence that the missing fisherman had been eaten by the creatures. Piper tried unsuccessfully to find the lair of the octopi, even risking speaking with Varat again.

Once the entire party had awakened, they made their way back to Sea Gate at it neared dusk. Finding Velakar, they revealed the grisly fate of his friend. Velakar was saddened by this news, but glad the party had slain the deadly beasts. He awarded the party 15 gold pieces each. Then, the party went their separate ways to rest. Piper managed to parley his musical talents into a bed and some food and drink. Sheon slept in the alleys of Sea Gate, forgoing any wordly comforts.